


ongoing investigations

by TaFuilLiom



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22686979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaFuilLiom/pseuds/TaFuilLiom
Summary: Pam had never seen Alex with any friends. Agents had chanced their luck before, but they had always been turned down, or more likely, ignored.But then she saw the way Alex licked her lips and swayed an inch closer to Maggie, as if considering an action, and Pam realised ‘ongoing investigations’ may be more personal than professional after all.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer
Comments: 11
Kudos: 123
Collections: Secret Sanvers | A Sanvers Valentines Day Event





	ongoing investigations

**Author's Note:**

> Five times Pam from HR gives Maggie and Alex paperwork to do, and one time she gets it back. 
> 
> or: Pam from HR is exasperated at Maggie and Alex's hijinks. For Lia, I hope you enjoy!

_ Visitor’s Pass _

The plastic fork pierced the crisp green leaf, crunching into the heart of the bowl. Between a budgetary meeting and another scheduled with a federal representative, she had a scant enough lunch break sandwiched in at noon. She hadn’t even gotten a bite into her mouth before she was beeped down here with a snappy tone. 

She  _ didn’t _ appreciate a snappy tone. 

She cradled her salad bowl, watching the tapping of Agent Danvers’ booted toe. When she arrived at the DEO’s underground entrance and caught sight of the simple predicament that she had been called to resolve, she decided she may be rushed by her schedule, but she would not be rushed by an impatient agent. 

She munched her salad leaf, enjoying the frustration clouding Agent Danvers’ expression with each chew. She swallowed, shoved the fork deep into the lettuce leaves, then rocked back on her heels. 

She glanced aside: through bulletproof-glass panelling, she could see Detective Sawyer lingering as if she was considering going away and trying again later. She turned her attention back to Agent Danvers. 

“Five times in two weeks,” she said.

“Yes,” Alex replied. 

“A police detective.”

“Yes.” The foot tapping quickened. 

“A police detective five times in two-”

“Pam-” At the HR representative’s sharp look, Alex amended her tone, “Mrs Oswald, Detective Sawyer is here to assist an ongoing investigation.”

Pam once again looked at where the detective hovered outside of the security gate, thumbing through her phone and pretending not to steal glimpses of the DEO.

“You know these things get flagged up. This is simply routine.”

“Yes.” Alex arched an eyebrow, her tone sharp. “So, can you just let her in now?”

“I’ll have you know, Agent Danvers-” She toyed with a tomato in the bowl, impaling it on her fork and watching the juice leak out onto the lettuce below. “-That I do not appreciate your barking. I am  _ not _ one of your agents.”

Alex’s hands bunched into closed fists. She scowled, then, as if realizing that she couldn’t force her way into getting what she wanted, tucked them under her armpits. 

“My security code won’t let her in, because I’ve done it too many times.”

“Clearly,” Pam said, nodding at the detective stranded outside. 

After another handful of terse seconds, Pam caved and shoved the salad bowl towards the agent. Startled at the sudden movement, Alex took it in both hands. Then she dug a set of keys out of her back pocket and unlocked an office door by the security checkpoint. She slid open the second drawer of a teal filing cabinet and lifted out a plastic visitors badge. Then she moved down to the third drawer and lifted out a HF2: for visitors. 

Alex practically stepped on her toes as she left the office, impatience running through her like a child ready to snatch chocolate out of her hand. In the salad bowl she still held, the lettuce was trembling. 

Pam handed her the form and the badge. She couldn’t get Detective Sawyer biometric clearance on such short notice, not until her eye scans and fingerprints were taken, but a plastic visitors pass would do.

“Old fashioned,” Alex said, softer, like an apology. She handed back the salad bowl and took the badge like a prize, glancing back through the window at Detective Sawyer.

She sighed and turned on her heel, but lingered at the corner of the corridor, watching as Alex let Maggie in and gently looped the visitor’s pass around the detective’s neck. 

“Ongoing investigation my ass,” she snorted. 

_ Clearance update _

“Permanent entry pass and an updated level of clearance to all files up to B23e.” She scanned the paperwork, tracing each word with the point of her pen. “Is that correct?”

“Uh, B23a, actually.” 

Pam looked up over the rim of her glasses. Alex shuffled back and forth in her boots as if she wanted to be anywhere else. 

“B23a,” she repeated.

“For the ongoing investigation.”

“Hmmm…” Pam fixed her with a look— the one that she used with the new agents on their first offense. “The same investigation that came to a close three days ago.”

When Alex started as an agent, Pam had been instructed to book various courses for her to undertake. However, given that this new girl was non-military and still studying to finish her degree, she had been dead set against Director Henshaw’s requests to fast-track. One of these courses was light espionage, though she suspected the training hadn’t been all that useful, as Alex could rarely lie when she was caught out. 

As she was now. 

“Well, yes, that particular line of inquiry was concluded,” Alex explained, avoiding Pam’s gaze, “However, there are additional...fields that we wish to explore.”

“Fields?”

“Yes.” Alex nodded once, resolutely. “It only makes sense that Detective Sawyer should have permanent entry into the DEO.” 

“With B23a clearance, you need it to be approved by Director…” Alex waved another paper under her nose. “...Henshaw.”

She took the paper from Agent Danvers. Sure enough, the signature of  _ Director Hank Henshaw _ was scrawled along the bottom. The written approval had already been attained.

Pam thought about the stories she had heard about Alex as an agent, as a squadron leader, wrestling and fighting and trying to sign herself out of the med bay with semi-serious injuries. As she rustled through her fire cabinet, she thought about the careful way that Alex had placed the visitor’s pass around Detective Sawyer’s neck. 

“Fill this out, as her guarantor,” she said, pulling out another set of forms. “And ask Detective Sawyer to fill this in.”

“I’ll have it submitted by the end of the day,” Alex promised.

It only took two hours for the paperwork to be returned to her desk carrying the neat scrawl of Detective Sawyer. 

Creaking back in her chair, she watched as Alex pinned the permanent plastic card to Maggie’s jacket. In the morning, the detective would come in for her biometrics, but for now, the agent was treating it with the importance of the detective’s own police badge. 

Pam had never seen Alex with any friends. Agents had chanced their luck before, but they had always been turned down, or more likely, ignored. 

But then she saw the way Alex licked her lips and swayed an inch closer to Maggie, as if considering an action, and Pam realised ‘ongoing investigations’ may be more personal than professional after all. 

_ Being added to the DEO intranet _

After receiving her clearance, Maggie Sawyer had become such a fixture at the DEO that Pam often wondered if she actually spent any time at the precinct. 

Draining her coffee from her World’s Best HR Rep mug, she crossed one leg over the other. Despite having the most advanced technology that government funding could buy, their computers still required regular maintenance. With Agent Schott bent over her desktop, she wouldn’t be getting much work done. 

She watched through the glass walls as agents went about their business: Johnson and Tac Team B leading a Gvorkan to the containment cells, Rodriguez and Rafferty pouring over the command table, McAllister rushing to the showers to rid himself of some kind of strange orange goo. All were run of the mill occurrences (though she would be expecting a full report from McAllister); but the way Danvers and Sawyer giggled and jostled each other as they strolled down the hall made her pause.

Had Agent Danvers learned nothing in the sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace seminars?

Her paperwork hadn’t noted her attraction to women, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone hadn’t declared their sexuality - or hadn’t known to declare it.

She licked her fingertips, flicked the page of her magazine, and turned back to Winn. “Will this take much longer?”

“It’s just running slow since the update,” he said apologetically, “Few minutes tops.”

She let the magazine fall limply to the desk and picked up her empty mug, heading for the break room around the corner. The coffee machine was just finishing its brew cycle - her timing was impeccable. 

The coffee machine spluttered out the last of the fresh coffee as Detective Sawyer walked in. She raised an eyebrow at the mechanical coughing, but said nothing.

“I need to get on to budget about upgrading these things,” Pam noted, just as the machine made a particularly concerning creak and the brewing light flickered off.

Maggie laughed as she opened the cabinet above the sink, standing on tiptoe to pull two mugs down. “Compared to our break room, this place deserves a Michelin star.” 

“I understand you need your caffeine, Detective, but…” Pam eyed the mugs in Detective Sawyer’s hands. “Two?” 

“Danvers.”

“Ah.” Pam removed the carafe from the machine, filling each cup in turn. “You two are an odd couple.”

“I don’t think so.”

_ I don’t think so, either.  _

Pam chewed the inside of her cheek to choke off that reply. Instead, she gathered her mug and motioned with it. 

“With the system’s update, you should get added into the new intranet. I’ll grab some forms for you to fill out this afternoon.”

Maggie nodded, balancing her own two mugs. “Okay, sweet.”

Adding her into the server would make it easier for her to communicate with Alex on their  _ ongoing investigations _ . But thinking of the screening software constantly running in her office gave her pause.

“But I should warn you, any emails you send and receive in and out of here,” Pam said, motioning to the room around them. “They go through me. Especially the ones to Agent Danvers. Make sure they’re all appropriate.”

As Pam walked away, she half expected to hear the two mugs smash to the floor. 

  
  


_ Vehicle Protocol _

She wasn’t sure what she was more furious about; being called down the garage in the last five minutes of her shift, or the justification being spouted at her down the phone. 

“No, I don’t agree with this.” 

_ “You don’t really get a choice in this, Pam, we’re two mintues away.” _

Pam had half a mind to hang up the phone right then and there. She hadn’t seen Detective Sawyer around the DEO as often lately, and she’d thought that she and Agent Danvers had finally decided to keep their shenanigans to a minimum.

Not so it seemed, as Agent Danvers had just called her, demanding emergency authorization for Maggie to drive her SUV. 

“I don’t like the sound of that.” She held her clipboard closer to her chest, taking care not to catch her heels on the steps as she made her way into the belly of the cavanerous DEO garage. “I don’t like it on iota, Agent Danvers.”

_ “This is only a call to let Hamilton know I’m coming in.” _

“Now you listen to  _ me _ Agent Danvers-” 

She heard the rumbling of an engine tearing closer, and with the squeal of tires, SUV lights appeared. Her heels clacked on the cement floor as she went boldly towards them, daring them not to stop. She would only notify Dr Hamilton after she had given Danvers and Sawyer a piece of her mind. 

The SUV lurched to a halt and Maggie leapt out of the driver’s seat. She slammed the door, mouth set in a firm line. 

Pam stalked across the parking lot, fuming. “May I remind you of the vehicle protocol?”

Alex hopped out of the passenger seat, the jagged cut on her forearm leaking blood onto the handle of the car door. She waved it in front of Pam’s face. “Does it look like I can drive?”

“You should have called for-”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alex rolled her eyes. “When I fill out the vehicle report, I’ll be sure to make a note of it.”

Pam held her palm out to Maggie, who gravitated to Alex’s side. “I’ll see those get put back in the dock.” 

Maggie had the decency to look chastened as she dropped the keys in Pam’s outstretched hand. “Sorry.”

Humming, Pam twirled the keys around a finger, and watched the careful way Maggie wound an arm around Alex’s back as though to support her. But the injury was on the arm, not the leg or the torso. They walked up the gangway perfectly fine without the help. 

She jingled the keys, catching Maggie’s thumb whispering along Alex’s ribcage before they disappeared around the corner. 

_ Alcoholic Substances on the Premises _

One of the things Pam stressed most in her HR seminars was the importance of a healthy work-life balance, which is why she tried to always stick to her nine to five schedule. Still, there were times that she found herself filing paperwork until long after most of the other administrative staff had left for the day. 

Most of these situations were a direct result of collateral superhero damage, but Director Henshaw didn’t seem interested in forcing their resident cape-wearing alien to fill out her own paperwork. Something about the importance of her day job superseding her clerical responsibilities. She finished around six pm, gathering her personal belongings and beginning her long trek from the administrative offices of the DEO to the parking garage.

As she passed the Weapons Cache, she stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn’t unusual to find agents cataloguing or cleaning weapons late into the night as they ran operations 24 hours a day - yet this sight was decidedly unprofessional. 

Two glasses and a bottle of amber liquid on a bench, feet away from deadly weaponry and alien technology.

"Is that apple juice in those glasses?" she questioned pointedly.

Two heads whipped around to face her. Agent Danvers and Detective Sawyer, quickly becoming twin thorns in her side.

"Just a finger," Sawyer drawled in amusement, "Or two."

Alex turned bright red and Pam didn’t need to ask what the implications of that statement were, so she chose to play dumb, skirting past the comment entirely. 

She lifted a page out of the tray by the door and flapped it in the air. “I hope you’ve logged all your weapons in and out.”

“Yes.” Alex was quick to confirm.

“You should be careful not to-”

“Yes.” Alex cut in again, not unlike Pam’s own children when they wanted her out of their hair.

Children that were waiting for her to get home.

“Do the paperwork right and I’ll consider letting you off,” she relented, wanting to be home as soon as the National City traffic would allow.

She took her time walking away, listening to Alex whisper  _ two fingers, Maggie, really? _ and giggle like a teenager who’d been told off by the teacher. 

_ Uniform violation _

By now, she knew the email was coming. Every so often she would glance at the rota, and comb her morning emails to see if there was any development. 

Then came the uniform violation, or as Pam liked to think of it, the store cupboard incident. She came around the corner at the precise moment that Agent Danvers was tugging Detective Sawyer out of a side cupboard. Danvers smiled lazily, kissing the detective, and helping to tuck her shirt back into her jeans. 

Pam couldn’t prove anything concrete about the behaviour they may have engaged in when inside the cupboard, so she couldn’t exactly caution them against  _ fraternising _ on the premises, especially since she still fused at the grey areas where her jurisdiction over visitor’s behaviour in the DEO ended. 

Nevertheless, she knew that the clearing of her throat and Alex’s amorous expression bleeding away into ghost-white fear was the turning point. 

“Agent Danvers,” she said, deliberately slow and steady, not reacting to Alex’s obvious anxiety. She wiggled a finger at the label hanging out of the agent’s inside-out training shirt. “Your uniform is not up to protocol.”

Hours later, Pam refreshed her inbox to find she had finally received the email she had been waiting for. 

“Agent Danvers.” Pam poked her head into Alex’s office, where the agent was sitting at her desk, scribbling on a piece of paper. “I got your email.”

“Oh. That was fast.” 

Pam held up her phone, Alex’s email still pulled up on the screen. “I was on the move.”

“Oh.” Alex tapped her fingers on her desk, antsy once again at the prospect of needing paperwork to be approved. She slid the hard copies towards Pam. “Well, here’s the physical.”

No more explanation was needed. Pam leafed through the two reports: a P11 and an F3, report of a change in equality declaration, and the addition of contact details for a partner. 

“I’ve been wanting to send this for a few weeks now,” Alex admits softly, “To- I mean- I’d like it reflected in my file that I’m a lesbian. And that I have a girlfriend whose contact details I want in the system, just in case anything…”

“Happens.” Pam lowered the paperwork. “Good for you, Alex.” 

The agent looked up in surprise at the use of her first name, but before either of them could get misty eyed, Maggie knocked on the doorframe.

“Ready to go?” 

“Yeah, lemme just-” Alex clicked the lid of her laptop shut and grabbed her jacket off the back of her desk chair.

Pam’s phone pinged with another email, and when she looked up from the notification, Alex had gotten up from her desk and was kissing Maggie. Caught, the agent pulled back, face flushed. “Hope that’s okay before the paperwork’s been filed.”

Pam smiled fondly, waving it around as if to clear smoke. “I didn’t see a thing.”

The couple gave her a nod and made their way out of the entrance. She made to follow, but even in her fond moments, Pam never stopped thinking in terms of HR. She looked around at the spacial setting of Alex’s office. She creeped back and inspected the desk, chair height, keyboard and screens. Alex would be haunching over the laptop. 

Squatting, Pam tutted at the lack of support given to Alex’s back, given the agent’s height and build. No wonder her posture was so terrible. She had  _ no _ right to lecture new recruits about their form on anything with a set-up like this. 

She made a mental note as she left:  _ book Danvers into another DSE and discuss spinal concerns with Hamilton. _


End file.
